four minutes with God: Psalm 63:1-4

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“Christian Hedonism is aware that self-consciousness kills joy and therefore kills worship. As soon as you turn your eyes in on yourself and become conscious of experiencing joy, it is gone . . . the secret of joy is self-forgetfulness. Yes, we go to the art museum for the joy of seeing the paintings. But . . . set your whole attention on the paintings, and not on your emotions, or you will ruin the whole experience. Therefore, in worship there must be a radical orientation on God, not ourselves.”
from Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
by John Piper

my Prayer:
Lord, thank you for worship last Sunday. I don’t remember any of the details. I don’t remember any distractions. I don’t remember all the songs we sang, if the praise team sang the “right” notes, if we were in sync, if we blended well, if the congregation was singing with us or even what anyone was wearing. I was oblivious. I remember worshiping you. I remember singing to you, being completely lost in music and praise. I came with the simple offering of my voice and what I received filled me to the extent that there was no room for anything else.

Lord, as I thank you for this blessing, I desperately pray that my worship would never distance me from those we are there to to lead. I pray that they would come with me as I enter into your presence.

the Word:
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 63:1-4(NIV)

the lyric.
“May my prayer like incense rise before You, the lifting of my hands a sacrifice . . . So Your Word is my joy and meditation, from the rising to the setting of the sun.

Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You. Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You.”
Like Incense/Sometimes By Step
by Hillsong

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“My Life is but a weaving between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colours, He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow and I in foolish pride,
Forget that He seeth the upper, and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hand,
as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.
Author Unknown

from Dark Threads the Weaver Needs: The Problem of Human Suffering
by Herbert Lockyer

my Prayer: Lord THANK YOU for discarding dark thread yesterday! THANK YOU for replacing it with gold and silver thread! Thank you for answering our prayer for healing for our friend with a big, fat YES! We are so thankful that our will for healing didn’t contradict your will, that our limited, “underside” view matched beautifully with your “upper” view of this section of the magnificent, complicated, simple tapestry you are weaving. We are so thankful that we have a cancer FAIL story to tell, and thankful for the opportunity to point all the grace and glory to YOU, Lord! We trusted you before the surgery to remove the cancer and if it had resulted in the discovery of more cancer, we would have trusted you still – not understanding, but trusting. We would have been sorrowful and hopeful, clinging to our faith in your perfect plan. We are full of praise and thankfulness today, Lord, and even though our friend has a long recovery, we thank you that you’ve brought this particular band of women together so that we can be your hands and feet during this time. God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good.

the Word:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)

the lyric.
“How high, how wide, no matter where I am, healing is in Your hands. How deep, How strong, and now by Your grace I stand, healing is in Your hands.”
Healing is in Your Hands
by Christy Nockels

Christy Nockels

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: Psalm 86:1-12

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“I can’t tell you how much energy and determination and prayer it takes for me to keep making the deliberate choice to appropriate faith and trust in the power of God . . . How do I do it? I fill my mind with the truth of the identity of God. I keep an awareness of His power flowing through the front burners of my psyche, memorizing relevant Scriptures and consciously “changing the channels” of my brain until I rest in His power. I’ve declared war on my ignorance of God, because the challenges I face today are simply too great for me to remain in ignorance and to trust in my own resources.” (emphasis mine)
The God You’re Looking for
by Bill Hybels

my Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your unconditional love. Thank you for your grace; freely given and undeserved. Thank you for your Holy Spirit’s presence in my life. Thank you for overwhelming blessings. You are perfect and Holy and your plan is so far above what I could possibly imagine. There is none like you.

I want to give to you, financially and of my time and talents, not out of obligation or for what I might receive in return, but as a response to my consuming gratitude. Please allow me to serve you. Please don’t let me miss an opportunity to serve due to my attention to self-focused goals or oblivious adherence to my routine.

the Word:
Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 86:1-12 (NIV)

the lyric.
“Into the darkness you shine. Out of the ashes we rise. There’s no One like You. None like You. Our God is greater, our God is stronger. God You are higher than any other. Our God is Healer, awesome in power. My God, My God.”
Our God
by Chris Tomlin

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: Matthew 25:21

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“The basic issue for the Christian, it seems to me, is whether we believe we are stewards or owners of what we possess. A good steward receives gratefully anything his Lord gives to him. But he must account for it and use it wisely . . . If material blessings come to us, we believe they are gifts of God for which we are to be responsible as stewards. The whole earth is really ours as stewards.

Now this is a fact which non-Christians may not understand. Most of the world believes in ownership.

I remember Bishop Edwin Holt Hughes telling about being entertained by a wealthy landowner. He had preached in his host’s church that morning on God’s ownership. Looking over his broad acres and remembering the morning sermon, the man asked, ‘Do you mean to tell me, Bishop, that this land does not belong to me?’ The bishop said the answer came to him in a flash, ‘Ask me that one hundred years from now.'”

Living the Adventure – Faith and “Hidden” Difficulties
by Keith Miller and Bruce Larson

my Prayer:
Lord, I pray that I never claim ownership of my blessings. I desperately want to be a good steward of ALL the gifts you’ve entrusted to me. My financial blessings, yes, but also my spiritual, physical and relationship blessings.

Lord, please help us to spend the money you entrust to us wisely. Please show us how to be able to give above and beyond our tithe.

Lord, please help me to be a good steward of my relationship with you. Please bless me with an unwavering awareness of your presence in the daily routine of my life and with a relentless desire to spend time alone with you – listening AND talking.

Lord, please continue to help me be a good steward of this body. Help me to make healthy choices with my nutrition and to view exercise as something I just DO. EVERY day. Like sleeping, eating and driving my kids around.

Please Lord, bless me with patience and empathy in my relationships. Please guide me and show me what to do and say so that the people I love – especially my children and husband – are filled with the confidence that they are deeply loved and respected.

the Word: His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
Matthew 25:21 (NIV)

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: James 1:19

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“It is ironic that we try to impress people by saying clever or funny things, yet nothing binds one human being to another more than the sense that they have been deeply, carefully listened to. It is no accident that we speak of paying attention to people; attention is the most valuable currency we have.”
Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them
by John Ortberg

my Prayer:
Lord, help me to listen today. Help me to SEE people you want me to listen to today. Please help me to turn off the auto-pilot I so often find myself operating in and really look people in the eyes. Bless me with patience and empathy today, Lord. Allow me to be an instrument of your unconditional love and to share it authentically with someone else through my silence, patience and eye contact. Help me to hear the real messages behind the words instead just the words – appropriate words, carefully formulated as an expected or proper response.

Please keep my pride in check and help me to remember that I don’t need to try and control how other people perceive me. Help me to be authentic, knowing that not everyone will respond positively to me today. Instead of trying to make sure I don’t look like a fool in front of anyone today, please help me to be real with people, giving you a chance to show someone else that they are not the only one who’s got problems.

the Word: My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak . . .
James 1:19 (NIV)

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: Jude 1:20-21

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“. . . daily prayer and religious readings and churchgoing are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed. And as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?”
from Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

my Prayer:
Lord, I don’t ever want to drift away from you. I don’t want to ever forget you. And yet, as I pray this so sincerely, I also know, without a shadow of a doubt, that in the not too distant future, I will forget you for an entire day. I will, out of the blue, probably with no definitive cause, go through an entire day without devoting even one moment of thought to you. So I pray that you won’t let me forget for two days in a row. Because it could lead to three. And then I’m the prodigal. Again.

Thank you for your Word. Thank you for my propensity to journal. Thank you for teaching me how to abide. Please help me to stop rambling on and on during my prayer times and abide MORE. Thank you for my love of reading. Thank you for the writers who draw me closer to you through their vulnerability and frankness. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, moving in me to bring me back into fellowship with you when I’ve forgotten you again.

Thank you for your stubborn love.

the Word: But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!
Jude 1:20-21 (The Message)

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: 1 Corinthians 1:10

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“Instead, make it your goal to love those who disagree with you. Go for the love, not the win.”

“We don’t always have to agree to get along. Our verse today says, “Let there be real harmony.” In an orchestra, there’s a big difference between unison and harmony. If all the musicians played in unison all the time, the music would get pretty boring. It’s the harmony that creates beauty in music, with different players playing different instruments and different notes, but all under the same direction of one conductor. The goal of each musician is not to play louder than the others or to finish the piece first; the goal is to ‘be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.‘”
from Better Together: What on Earth Are We Here For? Devotional and Journal edited by Rick Warren

my Prayer:
Lord, please help me find harmony with the cranky person I have to work with today. Please bless me with patience and a calm temperament. Please remind me to pause and respond instead of react when he speaks condescendingly and sarcastically. Thank you for the discernment you’ve already given me. Thank you for showing me that source of crankiness has little to do with the work, and more to do with his fear of losing credibility with our mutual client. Please break down our pride – both of us, so that we can work together, bringing the best of both of our capabilities to solve our client’s problem. Regardless of whether he is a Christian, please open his mind and make him receptive to this idea of combining our knowledge openly with the common goal of serving. Please let my freakish love of harmony cross over from my music to my work today.

the Word: I beg of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so that there won’t be splits in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
1 Corinthians 1:10 (LB)

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: Ephesians 3:17-19

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“One of the most important life-changing prayers we can pray for other people is that they will really know God’s love in a powerful, personal way. Paul did not pray that people would love God; he prayed that people would know and have Revelation of God’s awesome love.”

“When someone tells you about a Biblical principle or spiritual truth, that is a piece of information. But when God helps you understand it, it becomes revelation.”
The Power of Simple Prayer by Joyce Meyer

my Prayer:
Lord, I pray for revelation of the depth of your love today. For myself, for my family, for my friends and for that person I will never meet. Please bless me with a deep understanding of your perfect and limitless love. I don’t ever want to take it for granted, not fully comprehending the depth and breadth of your affection for me. Please help me to remember that every blessing – and every trial – is evidence of the fullness of your love for me.

the Word:
. . . so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV)

. . . And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God
Ephesians 3:17-19 (The Message)

the Lyrics
“How deep, how deep is your love? How strong, how strong is your love?” Healing Is In Your Hands by Christy Nockels

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: Philippians 2:15

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“Moral authority is the credibility you earn by walking your talk. It is the relationship other people see between what you say and what you do, between what you claim to be and what you are . . . There is an alignment between conviction and action, belief and behavior . . .

Nothing compensates for moral authority. No amount of communication skills, wealth, accomplishment, education, talent or position can make up for a lack of moral authority. We all know plenty of people who have those qualities but who exercise no influence over us whatsoever. Why? Because there is a contradiction between what they claim to be and what we perceive them to be.” Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision by Andy Stanley

my Prayer:
Lord, please help me to be blameless today. For even one minute of today. Please help me to represent you well. Please help me to be honorable. Help me to be a woman of my word today, Lord. Please fill me with an awareness of your Holy Spirit and remind me include you in every conversation, every action, every thought. If you are with me every minute, I stand a chance of being blameless. I want to be a credible witness for your grace and glory today. I want to be trustworthy. Please help me.

the Word:
. . . so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
Philippians 2:15 (NIV)

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

four minutes with God: 1 Peter 4:10-11

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“Where is God leading today? What are the priorities that need to be addressed? Who needs my attention? What do I have to learn? Where might be the landmines in the day’s journey? What needs to change? In asking these questions, I hope to tune my soul to the voice of God so that I will be conscious of His guidance throughout the day. With increasing frequency this actually happens.” A Resilient Life: You Can Move Ahead No Matter What by Gordon MacDonald

my Prayer:
Lord, please bless me with discernment today. Show me what I need to see, whether I want to see it or not. Lead me where I need to go, give me the words I need to speak and, please Lord, give me an awareness not only of your faithful presence, but an awareness of the needs of others that I so often miss even when they are smack in front of me. Allow me to serve you today Lord, even if I never get to know how you do it. Please allow me to be your hands and feet and voice. Please use me right where I am. Please allow me to be a witness for your grace and glory today.

the Word:
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:10-11 (NIV)

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.